Quarter of healthy years lost to breast cancer are due to lifestyle factors, research finds

Largest study of its kind suggests high red meat consumption has biggest impact, followed by smoking…

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/mar/02/healthy-years-breast-cancer-lifestyle-factors 

 

Jeffrey Tucker, MAHA Dandy (Conspirituality podcast, #281)

“Meet the man who built RFK Jr’s kitchen cabinet” goes the title of a recent investigative article in Politico. Yet that man, Jeffrey Tucker, is much more than that. In fact, you can make the case, as Politico does, that Tucker is one of the main driving forces behind MAHA.

We’ve covered Tucker before on this podcast, including two previous interviews with his estranged daughter, Julia—who Matthew talks to in segment 2. Derek then talks to Duke professor Gavin Yamey, who was cited in the Politico article as well.

Before that, we return to Jeffrey Tucker, founder of the Brownstone Institute, architect of the Great Barrington Declaration, a romantic faux-libertarian who wants to see the return of childhood smoking and the demise of child labor laws and seat belts, and, as Politico uncovered, a man who had to leave a prominent position at a libertarian think tank due to accusations of sexual misconduct.
Interview: 

https://www.conspirituality.net/episodes/281-jeffrey-tucker-maha-dandy

Vaping damages young people’s lungs as much as smoking, study suggests

"Both vapers and smokers showed signs that their blood vessels were not working as well as the non-smoking and non-vaping group, according to the blood tests and ultrasound scans. 

"The smokers and the vapers were more out of breath, experienced intense leg fatigue and had higher levels of lactate in their blood, a sign of muscle fatigue, even before they reached their maximum level of exercise."… 

Medical researchers have found evidence that vaping increases the risk of cancer, because it changes their DNA, and also that it may damage the brain and vital organs because e-cigarette aerosols and liquids can contain traces of toxic metals such as lead and uranium…

https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/sep/08/vaping-damages-young-peoples-lungs-as-much-as-smoking-study-suggests

Six lifestyle choices to slow memory decline named in 10-year study | Memory | The Guardian

Overall, people with four to six healthy behaviours or two to three were almost 90% and almost 30% respectively less likely to develop dementia or mild cognitive impairment relative to those who were the least healthy, the BMJ reported...

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/jan/25/six-lifestyle-choices-to-slow-memory-decline-named-in-10-year-study

Marijuana smoke harms lungs in tobacco smokers, study finds | CNN

"If you're smoking an unfiltered joint, let's say, more particulates will reach the airways, get deposited and become irritants, which is why you see the mucus and the inflammation," she said. 

 In addition, tobacco smokers quickly exhale, while marijuana smokers often inhale and hold their breath to maximize the high, she said. 

 "People usually have a longer breath hold and a higher puff volume, so they are holding in the larger volume of smoke for a longer period of time," she said. "That could lead to micro-trauma of those airspaces. These are all questions for future research."…

https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/15/health/marijuana-lung-damage-study-wellness/index.html

Cancer breakthrough is a ‘wake-up’ call on danger of air pollution

"Both air pollution and cigarette smoke contain lots of promoting substances. This has been known since the early 1960s but has essentially been ignored, as everyone was focused on mutations," he said. "The tobacco companies are now saying that smokers should switch to vaping as this reduces exposure to mutagens, and therefore the cancer risk is going to go away. This is not true, as our cells get mutations anyway, and there is evidence that vaping can induce lung disease and cause inflammation similar to promoters."

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/sep/10/cancer-breakthrough-is-a-wake-up-call-on-danger-of-air-pollution

Cigarette Smoke Kills Eye Cells - Scientific American

A new study reveals how tobacco from traditional or noncombusted cigarettes kills corneal cells…

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/cigarette-smoke-kills-eye-cells/

McConnell plan to hike the smoking age could be a win for tobacco companies - POLITICO

Public health officials see a "Trojan Horse" behind support for the age 21 sales limit....
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/04/28/mitch-mcconnell-smoking-age-tobacco-companies-1376631

Hookah smokers inhale toxic chemicals that may harm the heart, report warns - CNN

Hookah smoking impacts heart rate and blood pressure, with chronic use being linked to increased heart disease risk, says new report. Authors warn that hookah usage is encouraged through flavor options, social media and misconceptions that it is less harmful than cigarettes...
https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/08/health/hookah-smoking-toxic-chemicals-heart-study-intl/index.html

A smoker wrote his own obituary to stop others: ‘Quit — now — your life depends on it’ - The Washington Post

Four days before he died, Geoffrey Turner turned to his daughter and asked for his laptop. Sarah Huiest knew that her father had made preparations for his death, including writing his obituary — a way, she said, for the 66-year-old to tell his own story in his own words. Huiest said she had not yet read it — but now, it was time...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2019/02/25/smoker-writes-his-own-obituary-stop-others-quit-now-your-life-depends-it/

Study: Teen smoking rates dropped after Washington legalized marijuana - UPI.com

Contrary to predictions, teen marijuana use declined in Washington state after recreational pot was legalized in 2012, a new study finds.
https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2018/12/22/Study-Teen-smoking-rates-dropped-after-Washington-legalized-marijuana/1661545500114/

Big pharma really does prioritise funding for profitable research over public health, a new study shows - Business Insider

A study shows that research is geared towards making money rather than helping the public. A University of Sydney study found that much industry research is not focused on improving public health.....
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/how-corporate-interests-influence-health-research-2018-9

Condoms don't work, smoking doesn't kill, GOP is saving Medicaid—the world class lies of Mike Pence

Mike Pence recently sent the political punditry world on fire when he addressed the National Governors Association and made the outrageous and fictitious claim that the disastrous Republican wealthcare bill “strenghtened and secured Medicaid.”...
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/1681393

Trump Adviser Stephen Miller Championed Big Tobacco's Alarming Lies

Miller and Mike Pence both had a history of spreading lies about the dangers of smoking....
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/stephen-miller-tobacco-truther-lies

Giant Study Shows That—Surprise!—Vaping Entices Non-Smokers | Mother Jones

Kids who wouldn't otherwise pick up smoking are using e-cigarettes, researchers found....
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/01/e-cigarettes-encouraging-youth-smoking

A 15-year study finds indoor smoking bans really do make kids with asthma healthier (Business Insider)

"This study shows that even those short exposures to secondhand smoke in public spaces like restaurants can have a significant impact on asthma exacerbations," University of Chicago immunologist Dr. Christina Ciaccio said in a statement.
http://www.businessinsider.com/indoor-smoking-bans-kids-asthma-healthier-2016-12

There's hope: Fewer teens are doing drugs than ever before

American teenagers are the best behaved they’ve ever been — drinking and smoking less and doing fewer drugs than their predecessors in more than 40 years of tracking. Even use of marijuana is down among 8th- and 10th-graders, though it’s flat among high school seniors, according to the annual Monitoring the Future survey of American teens.

“The question is: Why is all this happening?” asked Lloyd Johnston, who has led the survey since it was begun in 1975. “Even though we have some hypotheses, I don’t know that we necessarily have the right ones.”...
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2016/12/13/teens-drinking-smoking-drugs-study/95349684/

Mike Pence: 'Smoking doesn't kill,' and other thigh-slappers

While Con Man Don Trump is an agile ideological chameleon, able to change his views on a dime and deny they were ever any different in the same breath, his vice presidential pick Mike Pence is just a good ole-fashioned ignoramus when it comes to science:...
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/1549336

Mike Pence, Trump's Reported VP Pick, Said "Smoking Doesn't Kill"

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, whom Donald Trump is reportedly leaning toward picking as his running mate, once held a pretty unusual view on cigarettes: that "smoking doesn't kill."

At several points around the turn of the millennium, Congress debated whether to allow the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco products. Pence, who was elected to Congress in 2000, was firmly against it, arguing that smoking was not as dangerous as the "hysteria from the political class and the media" would have you believe. In fact, tobacco products kill up to half of users, according to the World Health Organization....
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/07/trumps-reported-vp-pick-mike-pence-said-smoking-doesnt-kill

Why Tobacco Naturally Makes Addictive Poison